Archive for the 'Bad Religion' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

Mike Atta, guitarist for pioneering hardcore punk outfit the Middle Class, lost his lengthy battle with cancer on Easter Sunday.

Atta, along with his musician brothers Jeff and Bruce, and bassist Mike Patton (not the frontman for Faith No More) formed Middle Class in 1977 in Santa Ana. The locally influential quartet first made its mark via a pair of 7-inch singles, “Out of Vogue” in 1978 and “Scavenged Luxury” in 1980.

A full-length debut, Homeland, followed in 1982, just before the band broke up. Though short-lived, the group had a lasting impact on others who would come to thrive in their wake, including punk mainstays the Adolescents (who tweeted that Atta was their "friend, mentor and brother") and Bad Religion. One of that outfit's guitarists, Greg Hetson, posted this remembrance: "They supported the Dickies in July 1978 at the Whiskey. My first punk show. Truly inspired me to be in (a) band."

The Middle Class reunited for shows on occasion over the years, while Atta, whose age is currently unknown, went on to open the Out of Vogue vintage store in downtown Fullerton.

Score another major win for the bustling Observatory. Already the local pace-setter for modern music in an up-close setting, the Little O.C. Club That Could just nabbed a gem that might otherwise have landed in Los Angeles or San Diego: a warm-up gig from Morrissey.

The rabidly revered indie icon, soon to turn 55, will precede his one-off teaming with Tom Jones at L.A. Sports Arena on May 10 with a May 8 set at the roughly 1,000-capacity Santa Ana spot. Both performances arrive in anticipation of his 10th solo album, World Peace Is None of Your Business, expected by July, maybe sooner.

His Observatory stop, which undoubtedly will sell out in minutes when tickets ($75) become available March 28 at 10 a.m., isn’t an unprecedented booking – Moz has packed the Grove in Anaheim and the Smiths twice played Irvine Meadows in the mid-’80s. But it’s certainly the smallest place he’s ever headlined in Orange County, comparable in scale to his unusual booking a year ago at Hollywood High School (pictured). Regular opener Kristeen Young will be in tow.

Iggy Azalea: Morrissey’s May show may be the biggest fish the Observatory ever hooked, but the venue landed another hot commodity this week – a performance from this curvaceous Aussie rapper on her New Classic Tour, May 14, $35, on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in December, Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson noted that beyond festivals and KROQ events, his band had never organized a concert with the two groups they shared a bill with Saturday night at Club Nokia, fellow California rock mainstays the Offspring and Bad Religion.

That show easily could have filled Staples Center. But the mission of the event, to raise money and awareness for the Philippines disaster relief effort, called for something special: rare small-venue sets from these groups for a $250 donation to Music for Relief. For good measure, the whole thing was streamed online.

Before the 75-minute headlining turn, Linkin Park fans were polled by the evening's host, KROQ personality Stryker, about how many times they had seen the band. The majority declared more than 10 – someone yelled out 22 – and within the first verse of the sextet’s first hit, opener “One Step Closer,” their rabid fanaticism was understandable.

Dual frontmen Chester Bennington (looking strikingly similar to Scott Weiland since replacing him in Stone Temple Pilots) and Mike Shinoda (as smiley as hard-rock rappers come) took turns high-fiving the crowd, posing beneath the venue’s state-of-the-art lighting and matching album renditions with powerful live vocals.

Colorado band OneRepublic’s third album, Native, came out back in March and has since sold a little more than a quarter-million copies. Yet this week frontman and songwriter Ryan Tedder (above) and his mates announced a spring-into-summer outing alongside Irish outfit the Script that will play most of the country’s biggest amphitheaters next year – including both groups’ debuts at the Hollywood Bowl.

That June 5 performance goes on sale Friday, Dec. 20, at 10 a.m., as does a June 2 stop at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. Tickets are $29.50-$87.50 further north, $26-$75 down south. Pre-sales are underway until Thursday night at 10.

Concert for the Philippines: Linkin Park fans already got the memo, but in case you haven’t heard, the ever-generous band will play a rare small-scale set at Club Nokia on Jan. 11, along with turns from the Offspring and Bad Religion, to help the country’s typhoon relief effort. Tickets are only available by donating or raising a minimum of $250 for Music for Relief. Visit the charity's site for more details.

The seven bands that graced the main stage Saturday at the fifth annual Epicenter festival at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine could be split near the center of that divide between now-classic mainstays of ’90s modern rock and contemporary KROQ performers – music from your youth and music for the kids.

As on stage, where local legends the Offspring, Bad Religion and Pennywise shared space with current stars A Day to Remember, Pierce the Veil and All Time Low, the fans in attendance were split by age brackets, with a pretty even mix of young, enthusiastic supporters and a large contingent of aging punks and other Gen-X alt-rock junkies reliving memories.

Both ages in the crowd were attentive, exuberant and ready to spend money on an array of merchandise, concessions and booze. The latter of those was easier to find than bathrooms, thanks to numerous bars seemingly put in special for the event.

Granted, this is still a far cry from the bigger Epicenters of years past, particularly the founding ones in Pomona and Fontana, both noted less for their performances than for the brutal heat. While Saturday’s afternoon weather was warm, the Irvine breeze quickly settled in and made for a comfortable atmosphere for watching live music.

Jack Johnson: He’s been hailed for his set at Bonnaroo last weekend, thrown together with a day’s rehearsal to fill in for Mumford & Sons, who had to cancel their headlining appearance while bassist Ted Dwane recovers from emergency surgery that removed a blood clot from his brain.

That appearance, a favor for festival organizers, was a little ahead of schedule for the most laid-back guy in rock: His next album, From Here to Now to You, isn’t due until Sept. 17, with a tour starting in Europe just before it drops.

Johnson will play smaller venues to start, with the Hawaiian’s nearest run set for Oct. 18 at San Diego’s Balboa Theatre, Oct. 19 at L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre and Oct. 20 at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theatre. Prices are $69.90 except in S.D., where it’s $2 less. Bahamas, the nom de disc of noted Canadian singer-songwriter Alfie Jurvanen, opens all shows.

Tickets are available exclusively through a lottery at his official website, a means of hopefully ensuring a fair shot at securing seats that thousands will want. Deadline to enter is June 24. Winners will be selected after that and contacted by email with purchase instructions. It appears the actual on-sale date is June 26.

In the six years that the annual Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival has descended upon the OC Fair & Event Center, there hasn't been a main stage act yet that has sounded particularly stunning.

With bands performing inside an echo-filled hangar with sheet metal walls, adjacent from a similar building hosting hundreds of tattoo artists from around the world, die-hard fans and ink enthusiasts definitely don't come for the audio quality. What gets them to return to the three-day event is the colorful atmosphere and value, as ticket prices have held steady at $20-$25 per day.

There's certainly no lack of talent. This year's impressive lineup of punk rock staples includes L.A. legends Bad Religion and local favorites the Vandals and Guttermouth, who kicked things off Friday night, followed by an appearance from recently reunited Pennywise on Saturday, plus warm-up courtesy of Lagwagon and T.S.O.L. Sunday's closer features Reverend Horton Heat, Lucero, the Headcat (featuring Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister) and a solo turn from Social Distortion guitarist Jonny Two Bags.

We caught up with members of the veteran punk band while they scurried around an L.A. rehearsal space after a lengthy session last month. Guitarist Greg Hetson was finishing his portion of Sharpie autographs on special CD sleeves of their new album True North, which dropped Jan. 22. Vocalist Greg Graffin was busy confirming travel plans for the East Coast while guitarist Brett Gurewitz wiped sweat off his forehead and fired up his laptop to check emails, and guitarist Brian Baker made tweaks to his instrument. Everyone had a job this day, and they were hopping to it.

Drummer Brooks Wackerman and bassist Jay Bentley, both of whom currently reside in Costa Mesa, were tasked with being interviewed. We got cozy, sitting cross-legged on the one-step stage riser in their rehearsal room, filled with the smell of sweat and drive-thru burritos. The band has been warming up for its next North American tour, which kicks off March 8 with a headlining turn at the 6th annual three-day Musink Tattoo Convention and Music Festival at the OC Fair & Event Center.

• Crystal Castles: Bolstered by another round of acclaim, this time for their logically titled third album (III), this sonically fractious Toronto electro-noise duo has risen to the upper echelon of intelligent experimentalists uncovering fresh wrinkles, as opposed to just droning on atmospherically. They're something altogether fiercer live, however. Find out at a pair of gigs – April 25 at the Fox Theater in Pomona, $27.50, and April 26 at the Hollywood Palladium, $39.50 – that seem to both confirm and confound the idea of seeing CC at Coachella.

• Cold War Kids: Nearly two years to the day of issuing their third album (Mine Is Yours) the O.C.-spawned group that makes San Pedro its recording home has delivered a piano-pounding new ditty, "Miracle Mile" (KROQ has a stream of it), the first bit from their next disc, Dear Miss Lonely Hearts, due April 2.

In this case that drop date does not suggest they'll turn up in Indio; they're on the East Coast during Coachella, well into a tour coinciding with the album's release. We get a gig from them early in the trek, Feb. 21 at the Observatory in Santa Ana ($20, on sale Friday at 10 a.m.), between stops in San Luis Obispo and then Visalia and Santa Barbara. They'll wrap up this leg with two more Southern California shows, May 24 at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood ($25, also on sale Friday) and May 25 at the Belly Up in Solana Beach (on sale soon).

Also at the Fonda: a DJ set from Amon Tobin on Feb. 28, $22.50, on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.; and Shlohmo Live AV Set, April 6, $20, on sale today at 10 a.m.

But as you can see, there's already a flier circulating online announcing the sixth annual Musink Tattoo Convention and Music Festival, slated for March 8-10 at its regular location, the OC Fair & Event Center.

Unlike in past years, when music attractions have been divided between old-school stalwarts and metal upstarts, this time it's virtually wall-to-wall punk.

In case you have trouble reading: Bad Religion, whose 16th album True North drops Jan. 22, tops the bill for opening night, with support from the Vandals and Guttermouth. The reunited Pennywise will follow up two sold-out Hollywood Palladium shows this month with an appearance at Musink's second night, along with Lagwagon and T.S.O.L. And psychobilly standout Reverend Horton Heat will close out the event, with warm-up sets from Lucero, the Headcat (featuring Lemmy from Motorhead) and Social Distortion guitarist Jonny Two Bags.

Among this year's featured tattoo artists will be Jack Rudy, Robert Atkinson, Small Paul, Tomas Garcia, Roman Abrigo, Bob Tyrrell, Robert Hernandez, Franco Vescovi and dozens more.